Zee TV’s popular fiction show, Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega, has been a favourite amongst TV viewers and the interesting story around Guddan (Kanika Mann) and Akshat’s (Nishant Singh Malkani) love life kept them intrigued and entertained for the past couple of years. It recently took a 20-year leap and showcased the tragic death of Akshat and Guddan and post the leap, the show now revolves around the ups and downs of their daughter, Choti Guddan’s life. Essayed by Kanika Mann herself, Choti Guddan finds her hero soon after the leap. Agatsya, the character played by Savy Thakur, is all set to give her all the happiness that she deserves. But standing in her way is Nia, who is Agastya’s soon going-to-be-wife.

Essayed by television actress Maera Mishra, Nia is a grey shaded character who although appears to be a kind and soft-hearted person to the world, is actually quite the opposite. The negative character is all set to turn Choti Guddan’s life upside down and while the actress (Maera) was beyond thrilled to portray her first ever negative character, it seems like the role’s requirements might have left her a bit overwhelmed. The actress who is anything but like her character, found it hard to emote the exact emotions and animosity that her character goes through. In fact, Maera got so affected that a particular sequence got the actress in tears.

Narrating her experience, Maera who plays the role of Nia in Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega mentioned, “We shot for a particular scene where I am yelling and scolding a kid to eat her food. As unbelievable it might sound, but I actually began crying by the end of this scene because I am not really a person who raises my voice, and neither can I tolerate someone else doing it. We had to shoot a couple of retakes because I kept getting teary eyed. In fact, my Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega director and the young girl that I was shooting with were trying their level best at not making me feel bad about the sequence.”

Adding further, Maera said, “This character being my first grey shade is pretty challenging for me and I am giving in my 100 per cent to do justice to the character. In fact my mom, who was earlier convincing me to play positive shades only, recently appreciated my performance in Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega and that honestly has given me quite the boost to explore this side of myself.”

While our sweet Maera is busy planning and plotting tragedies as Nia in Choti Guddan’s life, she is unaware of the twists that are set to come in her own. As Nia and Agastya’s wedding kicks off in full swing, will the latter finally be able to express the feelings he has for Choti Guddan?

Whistling Woods International (WWI) has always served as a beacon for India’s creative community, inspiring them to greater heights of achievement and success. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, WWI has once again led the way for India’s education sector by hosting an exclusive online masterclass session. This step provided the students of Asia’s premier Film, Communication, and Creative Arts institute with an uncompromised and unparalleled exposure to creative insights on filmmaking.

This unique online masterclass featured the cast and crew behind the acclaimed 2020 biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. Present for the session were the film’s director, Sharan Sharma; writer Nikhil Mehrotra; actress Janhvi Kapoor, who played the titular character; editor and WWI alumnus Nitin Baid; and director of photography, Manush Nandan. Hosting the session was Rahul Puri, Head of Academics at WWI, who led the highly informative and engrossing session. Following an initial round of introductions, the team took turns to describe their individual contributions to the film.

Rahul Puri subsequently began the session by posing a series of questions. When asked about the portrayal of patriotism and women in the armed forces, Sharan Sharma cited about the influence of the real Gunjan Saxena. He stated, “Many cues were taken from Gunjan ma’am and the way she is in real life. She showed us a different view of patriotism, stating that this was her duty towards the country.”

The film was highly praised for its portrayal of the father-daughter relationship, with Sharan Sharma noting that the actors drew their inspiration from the real Gunjan Saxena and her father, “Gunjan ma’am always looked up to her father. Similarly, Janhvi looked up to Pankaj Tripathi and had a lot of respect for him as an actor. Hence it was a natural progression.” Janhvi Kapoor shared this opinion, stating, “I have a lot of respect for Pankaj sir. I admire him and thus forming the bond came naturally to me. Scenes with him always felt nice and were very natural.” The conversation further progressed to the way in which the film was scripted, and that the story had a lot of clarity, while Sharan narrated the script to the team.

Manush Nandan went on to describe his role in shaping the helicopter scenes in the film, and the emphasis on realism. “Sharad had suggested certain details and insisted that nothing could look unreal. The first half was easy as it was  all about Gunjan ma’am growing up, but the chopper scenes in the second half weren’t something we had done before.”

As the session came to an end, Sharan Sharma praised WWI for constantly upholding the standards of education for the film industry, noting, “Hats off and congratulations to all of you at WWI. From my experience of being in film business, I have come across so many alumni who are technically skilled and extremely professional and industry-ready. In a way they have taken over the industry! We are very happy to have interacted with the students of WWI.” With the session concluded, Rahul Puri led a vote of thanks for the team.

Filmmakers in today’s time have been offering  robust Indian content that has brought a new wave of innovation and creativity to the industry. With a shift to the digital era,  filmmakers are now introducing the world to an array of fresh talents, making stellar additions to the fraternity. The newest star to be a part of this clan is the  tinsel town diva  ‘Shreya Chaudhry’ who has been wooing the audience since her outstanding act in ‘Bandish Bandits’.
We all know how our actors over the years have been constantly providing a magnificent piece of art, nettling reminders of artistic goals.  With their mind-blowing performances, they have successfully carved a special place in the hearts of the audiences and the actors too. One such example is the legendary actor  Naseeruddin Shah,  the ultimate man of mimetic art and a cult figure who has truly inspired individuals becoming a role model and a mentor to the emerging stars. It is a saying that the primary key to growing fast and flourishing as an actor is to learn and absorb as much as you can from experienced ones. Well, this is true and Shreya aims to learn as much ever since she got a chance to work with veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah.  

Talking about Naseeruddin shah, Shreya Chaudhry mentions, ” Naseeruddin Sir is a legend, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to watch him create his magic live. It’s definitely an unforgettable memory and I’ll cherish it forever. While we were shooting for Bandish Bandits, I got a chance to observe and hopefully learn a thing or two. I feel very lucky that I got to interact with him, discuss movies and acting and had the opportunity of a lifetime to do a workshop with him. He’s not just one of the country’s best actors but one of the nicest and warmest people I have met.  Naseer sir today is not just a legendary actor I have immense love and respect for but also a friend and teacher. I hope I get more opportunities I the future to work with him again